Search results for query: *

My chickens are in an old stone built shed with a dirt floor which i hate because it's incredibly dusty inside. I was thinking if we pour a cement floor with a gutter in the middle going out the door then i will be able to wash the whole coup out with disinfectant to keep it clean and the water...

I'm in Macedonia and the vets here are rubbish! I've got 2 sick chicks, one is sneezing and croaky sounding but otherwise seems OK, and the other has really bad swelling on one side of it's face and it can't close it's beak or open it's eye and it looks really bad. I took them to the vet who...

As someone who is passionate about science and dispelling misinformation, i thought I'd take the opportunity to start a thread where people can ask questions about GM crops and have a rational discussion about the pros and cons, and to try to address some of the common propaganda and...

My broody left an egg in her nest after the others hatched and i'v been keeping it in my bra the past 2 days. Last night it pipped at 4pm. It was tweeting and pecking a lot when i went to bed and i was sure it was going to hatch during the night. But it's now 6:30 am and not much has happened...

I'v got a broody hen sitting on a clutch of eggs and i want to leave her to get more chicks, but one of the eggs broke and the yolk is all over the other eggs. Is it ok to let her incubate dirty eggs, or should i take her off them and clean the nest box, remove the dirty eggs and let her sit on...

Tell me if this is OK for hens for eggs: We've grown corn and sunflower for the chickens, and we swapped some bags of corn for wheat. I'm mixing 3 cups corn, 1 cup sunflower and 2 cups wheat and crushing it all together in an over sized pestle and mortar (we desperately need to invest in a...

I've been raking up all the fallen fruit and leaves into a compost pile and throwing kitchen scraps on top for the chickens. Should i or should i not add the dirty litter from the chicken coup onto this compost pile too? Seeing as food and poo are unmixy things?

I bought my chicks from the local farmers market when they were a few days old and tried to wing sex them them after watching how to do it on youtube. This is my first chickens so this is a learning curve for me. Anyway, there was some that i was pretty sure were girls and others that i wasn't...

I want to make a DIY enclosed water bucket with water nipples to keep the water from getting mucky. I'm looking for advice on which is the best water nipple to buy? I was previously using a water bottle for rabbits, the one with a wee ball in the nipple, when my chicks were younger, but it...

My chicks are mostly fully feathered now. I think they're are 2-3 months old (I've lost count!). I've got them in a tractor at the moment and am moving it around the garden. We're in the process of converting our stone shed into a chicken house. When can i let the chicks roam free in the...

My two oldest chicks are about 6 weeks old now. The darker one looks like it's comb is turning red. Do you think it's a roo? It's bigger than the white one which is the same age, it's tail feathers and comb are much bigger. The yellow one has a smaller tail and comb, which is still yellow...

I've got two 3 week old chicks and 7 more younger ones, between 4-7 days old, in another box but in the same room (my bathroom) . None of them are vaccinated yet or have been given any antibiotics or medication. I thought i could hear the older ones sneezing occasionally and now i was just...

I've got 2 chicks who are nearly 3 weeks old now. I want to get a few more from the market today. Is it OK to just put the new ones in with the older ones? Or will the older ones kill them? Do i need to quarantine them first, or wait till they're a bit bigger before putting them together? What...

It's hot here (Macedonia, South Eastern Europe) Over 30 degrees outside now and we're sleeping with just a thin blanket. My father-in-law said we don't need a heat lamp for the chicks now because it's summer and it's really hot. I'm keeping my 10 day old chicks in the bathroom and it's 25...

My eggs went into lock down on Sunday on day 18. They were all wobbling days 18 and 19. Now is day 21 and i don't see them moving and I'm worried. I can, however, hear some faint chirping so i know at least one is alive. I suspect it's coming from egg number 2, which has been the most active...

OK, so i really like my music. Especially music where people have actual talent and can play instruments. I love traditional folk music from various countries, everything acoustic, jazz, rock, alternative, electro, drum n bass.....actually i like pretty much everything that's not cheesy pop or...

Can they get fruit / veg etc right from when they hatch? Or only chick feed? What do they like, what is best for them? How about grass or weeds from the garden? Is there anything poisonous that they shouldn't get? How should i give it to them - chopped up or whole? etc etc..... This is my first...

This is the first time i'v incubated eggs so i am a complete novice. I have 7 eggs now 10 days into incubation. I started with 10 but one was probably infertile and two died early on. The rest are all moving about like crazy and getting bigger every day. About the air cell - Is there any...

I was reading about the dry incubation method, which seems to contradict the standard advice. So what is best? Right now i don't have a humidity gage, so i have no idea what % it is. But i have a shallow dish with some kitchen paper soaked with water inside my homemade incubator. It's been...

Today is day 6 and i have candled 6 out of my 10 chicken eggs. I think i can see veins on one egg over the yolk but the other side of the egg looks clear, does it sound like this one is developing? My torch is crap and i can't see properly, I'm going to buy a new when get the time. I have...